


Poison Pursuit

by Litfancy



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, Blood, Canon-Typical Violence, Danger, Drama, No shipping, Original Character - Freeform, not tcest, some jokes here and there about marriage proposals but nothing legit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-28 03:34:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,904
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30133365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Litfancy/pseuds/Litfancy
Summary: When an old foe interrupts a lovely evening and poisons one of the turtles, it’s up to Leonardo and their friend Bee to scour the hidden city in search of mystic ingredients to mix up a cure in time. But with the enemy hot on their tails, will they make it in time?Art included!
Comments: 6
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It’s my second fic starring my beloved Oc Bee! If you don’t know her yet, don’t be afraid to hop over and read my first fic ‘Thistle and Branch’ for context haha though I promise I feel like I did a good enough job of reintroducing her here. 
> 
> TW BLOOD
> 
> I add art to the chapters after posting! I have 2 drawings ready for this chapter that I’ll add tomorrow!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Waah I’m finding all the typos haha I’ll fix em tonight when I get to my hotel!

“That’s the last of em!”

Raph gently stacked the final crates in the back of a beat up white van in the secluded alley as his youngest brother Michaelangelo used several bungee cords to tie the precariously balanced boxes of produce down safely.

“Thank you two again _sooo_ much for helping with my delivery today, really I’m grateful!”

The owner of the van jumped down from the drivers seat to come inspect their handiwork. It was their good friend Bee, the short mystic gardener slash potion expert. Her glasses caught the light with a twinkle as she smiled, impressed with how efficient the boys had been.

“Not a problem Bee! The Mad Dogs are always around to lend a hand to a friend!” Raph gave her a double thumbs up and a snaggletoothed grin as she peered into the back of her van to survey the now neatly stacked milk crates full of assorted vegetables and fruits.

“Yeah Bee! I told you Raph would make the job go way faster!” Mikey chirped as he hopped out and stretched his arms up high. “So we’ll help you deliver it all super fast and then when we get back, you said you’d show me how to make that mystic chili that cures colds!”

“Somehow I feel like you volunteering yourself and your brother to help me with my deliveries today is less about being a good friend and more about learning my family’s secret recipes Mikey.” Bee teased him, Raph shrugged and nodded as she held the van door wide open for him to hop up in as Mikey moved around to the passenger seat in the front.

“You’re not wrong Bee, Mikey’s been scheming this for days now. His theory is if we help you finish your errands quicker you’d have more time to show him your secrets. He’s as bad as Donnie.”

Mikey turned around in his seat to stick his tongue out at Raph as Bee shut the back door of the van and Raph settled down onto the seat back there. The large snapper would never fit in the regular seats up front with Bee and Mikey, so they had stuffed a bench in on one side so he’d have somewhere to sit comfortably while they cruised around that night.

“So Bee why exactly do you do your deliveries at night? Don’t most produce people deliver in the morning? Why aren’t we getting up at the crack of dawn?” Raph asked leaning into the cab of the truck as she hopped up into the drivers seat and revved the engine.

“Ah! Because we’re not delivering to humans! My windows are tinted but I just didn’t wanna risk it with you two on board, so tonight we’re actually gonna deliver to a lot of yokai clients around the city.”

  
  


“Ooh! Does that mean we’re stopping by Run of the Mill Pizza?!” Mikey perked up with excitement as Bee pulled the truck out into the streets.

“Yeah! They’ll actually be taking most of this load tonight, and then we’ll have a few more stops along the way back from there, yokai families who live topside, some vendors, things like that.”

“Not Big Mama though right?” Raph asked almost pleadingly. The spider woman was the last person he wanted to deal with at the moment if things went sour.

“No no, she orders much more than just a single van and only once a week on Sundays. So my advice is to not come visit me on those days if you don’t want to run into any of her employees.” She laughed but the boys didn’t join her, both making their own mental note to avoid Bee on those days. Better safe than sorry, and they didn’t want to get Bee in trouble with Big Mama either by being their friend and ally.

“Y’know a nice night like this, normal activities, no danger, no fighting. It’s kinda nice.” Raph noted. “An easy mission for the Mad Dogs is still a mission!”

“You can call it a mission all you like, but we are running errands Raphie boy.” Bee grinned at him in the rearview mirror.

Mikey spoke up now as Bee cruised down the mostly silent streets, “If we go by Run of the Mill soon, can we order a pizza? All that loading was hungry work.” As if on cue his belly rumbled loudly and dramatically. Bee laughed again and Raph shook his head.

“I feel like I’m the one who did most of the loading while you, Michaelangelo were what? Ah yeah, ‘supervising’.” The elder huffed, feigning annoyance while Mikey turned the full power of his puppy eyed pout on Bee who tried to be strong, but lasted only a minute before caving in.

“Alrighttt, you can order a pizza while we unload. That way it’ll be done by the time we finish wrapping things up with Hueso. He always wants to talk about his previous orders and new options for his guests.” She made a left turn, now taking them in the direction of the mystic pizzeria’s secret topside entrance. Mikey clapped loudly and whooped excitedly.

“Yeahhh! A supreme mystic pizza with EVERYTHING on it AND I found some jelly beans in my shell so I’ll tell them to throw those on there too!” Raph and Bee both grimaced at each other at this idea of his, Mikey certainly had a chefs palate but he was a little too adventurous at times it seemed.

“We’ll tell them jelly beans on only half Mikey, you gotta share.” Raph spared Bee and spoke up for the both of them. He loved pizza but some things were holy and who puts jelly beans on hot food?

Bee took this opportunity to pull her van into the alleyway concealing the secret entrance and parking.

“We’re here! Raphael, Mikey, why don’t you two go in and put in your pizza order, get whatever you like, you don’t have to split one, both of you get one! And tell Hueso I’m here with his order as well.” She hopped down from the drivers side and made her way to the back of the van, popping the door open so Raph could jump out and stretch as Mikey ran around to the mystic graffiti on the wall, waving the secret mystic signal and getting the door to open.

“You hear that Raph?! We can each get our OWN pizza! Thanks Bee! We’ll be right back out in a minute to help you unload it all!” Mikey smiled brightly back at her and Raphael before disappearing into the portal that was shimmering brightly. Raph reached for the crates in front of them, but Bee waved him away as well as she pulled out a red dolly cart and began unwinding the bungee cords that were crisscrossed all over the crates.

“Go ahead Raphie or Mikey will order you a pizza with jelly beans, I’ve got to double check so I don’t accidentally give him the wrong produce. I’ll be in in a sec.” she pulled out a clipboard full of papers and receipts and starts flipping through, mumbling to herself as she counts boxes. Raph made his way into Run of the Mill after Mikey leaving her waiting outside.

The mystical pizza parlor was busy, that much was clear. The hustle and bustle of yokai and their families in the crowded booths and swamped tables was a palpable energy in the air as Raphael entered the premises. Señor Hueso himself was running around, an apron tied across his waist and his boney hands full of dishes he was running out to tables. Mikey was making a beeline for him, no doubtedly to make his order, when the boney yokai slipped on a puddle of dressing that had just splattered on the floor before him. The food in his arms went flying, but before Mikey or Raph could get close enough to catch a single dish, a flash of blue beat them to the punch, snatching the falling appetizers out of the air before they were ruined.

“Not to fear, your favorite customer was right here to save the day!” Leo bragged loudly as he balanced the three dropped courses back in his arms safely.

“Leo! You’re here!” Raph exclaimed with surprise as he helped Señor Hueso up off the floor. Leo bowed with a flourish. Hueso brushed dust off his suit.

“Thank you Blue, for your sharp reflexes as usual, you and your brothers have impeccable timing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to deliver these appetizers to table six before they eat table seven.” Leo handed the apps over to Hueso who scurried off to pass out the food before it got cold, then slapped the back of Mikey’s shell affectionately.

“Well if it isn’t my eldest and youngest bro. How goes your super exclusive mission with the vegetable lady?”

Mikey frowned deeply at this.

“It’s not exclusive -we invited you and Dee to come along to help too. And Bee’s gonna teach me some more magic food so it’s worth it!”

“Yeah, we just didn’t wanna get stuck as delivery boys tonight. Not a very ninja level mission in my opinion.” Leo continued. “So Don-Ton and I are here for some ninja leveled pizza.”

He nodded at a booth a few steps away where Donnie was seated, facing away from them and apparently had been too enraptured by the pizza he was devouring to even notice the commotion of his other brothers arriving. Raph sighed and shook his head in mock disappointment.

“Not every mission should be high stakes Leo, we can still be heroes by helping out  
our friends. Now if you’ll excuse us, Mikey and I are actually here on our exclusive mission. Hey, Hueso!”

Raph left his brothers behind, Mikey was busy filling Leo in on what they’d be up to later in the evening with Bee. Raphael flicked an unobservant Donnie in the back of his purple clothed head as he walked past the table he was seated at. It was worth it to see Donatello choke momentarily on the slice in his mouth, his goggles sliding down over his eyes as he looked around frantically to see what had hit him, settling back down into his seat with a bemused wave at his eldest brother when he realized it was just Raph before diving back into the steaming pie in front of him. The busy bone yokai wiped his hands on his apron after dropping the food off at a table and Raph was able to catch up to him quickly.

“Pepinillo it is good to see you and all your brothers here together, but we are a bit busy this evening, and I am expecting a delivery any minute now as well that I must attend to-“

“That’s why Mikey and I are here, we’re with Bee tonight. We’ve got your produce delivery right outside. She wanted me to come in and let ya know.” Raph interrupted before Hueso could run off again. The bone yokai clapped his hands together in excitement at the news, pulling the apron off his lower half and tossing it aside as well as pulling his hat off his head to smooth a hand over his skull, as though pushing hair back.

“Ah why did you not say anything sooner my friend? Bee is here? My kitchen is in desperate need for a resupply so she is just in time! Come, let us go.” Señor Hueso ushered Raph back towards the entrance to go supervise when Bee suddenly appeared through the entrance, her red dolly stacked high with crates of produce and her clipboard in hand.

“Oh there you are Raph! I’ve stacked the rest of his delivery outside of the van if you’d just bring them in and straight into the kitchen for me sugar, it’d be a big help.” She settled the dolly down, parking it before turning to Hueso with a cheerful smile and a deep bow.

“Señor! I am glad to find you busy as ever, I look forward to visiting you every week with your order.”

“The pleasure, I’m sure, is always mine when I am visited by the lovely Bianca.” Hueso bowed even lower, taking her hand in both of his and leaving a delicate kiss on the top of it. Bee giggled at his dramatics and he continued.

“I trust that this weeks delivery is in perfect order, my customers have been raving over those new mushrooms you brought last time, and I was so grateful you were able to refill my stock so quickly.”

Bee patted the boxes next to her with confidence as Raph headed out the door to start moving the rest of the crates into Hueso’s kitchens. He was passing back and forth from the kitchen to the van and back carrying all the heavy crates like they were made of cotton as Bee continued to speak with Hueso.

“ Everything is all accounted for and double checked myself, and here I’ve got those new specialty pickled eggplants and mystic capers as well, if you’d like to sample the batch, I made them with our special spice blend fresh just for you.” She pulled the heavy top crate off and moved to place it on a table to dig out a jar but he waved her off.

“I am confident that the quality is no doubt as excellent as all your other products my beloved Bianca.” He took her hand again and planted another kiss on top with a grin. “May I put in an order for you to take to go? Perhaps a glass of wine to calm the nerves? You have two of the turtles with you, I’m sure you could use one.”

Bee was openly blushing now at Hueso’s antics and laughed, waving him away while Raph was working steadily behind her.

“No thank you on the wine but the boys were hoping to order two pies to go, hopefully ready by the time we finish up here so we can get to all my deliveries on time?”

She quirked her eyebrows up into a questioning face and Hueso snapped his fingers, a fly waiter appearing nearly instantly at his elbow.

“For you Bianca, I will have them ready. You. Get the orders from the Orange and Red turtles and make sure they are out as quickly as possible to go. On the house.” The fly nodded and sped off to Mikey’s side to take his order.

“Whaaaat?! Raph and Mikey get free pizzas? What gives Bone Man?! Me and Donnie had to wait like forty minutes for ours AND we’re paying full price!” Leo interrupted suddenly, appearing from seemingly nowhere, startling Bee and Señor Hueso. Bee jumped back, bumping into the crates stacked precariously on the dolly, knocking them over along with her clipboard which went skidding across the floor.

  
“Oh no!”

  
“Oi vey!”

  
Bee and Hueso fumbled to catch the crates before they tipped over properly and managed to right them with a shared sigh of relief. Hueso rounded on Leo in agitation.

“Blue! Eavesdropping on my personal business dealings! Go back to your table before I pickle YOU for your rudeness!” Leo pouted but he sheepishly returned to his table, sliding into his seat next to Donnie as Raph came back in again, arms laden with boxes.

“Hey Bee! These are the last of the ones you had stacked outside.” He carried them into the kitchen and Mikey appeared at Bee’s elbow as well, grabbing the dolly and carting it off towards the kitchen.

“I’ll take these ones Bee, and I’m just gonna go inspect our pizza situation.”

Bee put her hands on her hips, impressed by how quickly they had unloaded the van. Well, how quickly Raphael had unloaded the van while Mikey was inside bothering his brother Donnie.

“Wow, maybe I need to just hire the boys full time for all my deliveries if this is how fast we can get the van unloaded. I guess we are all done here then Hueso. Thank you for your continued business, and call me if you need to add anything special to your usual order.” She turned back to Señor Hueso and bowed again, and again he returned it.

“And you, blossoming Bee, are always welcome here in my restaurant, for business or pleasure, all my treat. We would not be one of the top pizzerias in the city if not for you.”

Mikey skid back to Bee’s side using the dolly like a scooter, two steaming pizza boxes balanced in his hand.  
“Bee they are already DONE and they even put the jelly beans on mine like I asked for! Best day ever!”

She waved goodbye to Hueso and called out to Leo who was pouting and spying on their conversation again from his seat. “Next time Leo, maybe you can volunteer to help as well and you’d get a treat like your brothers!”

Mikey stuck his tongue out at Leo on their way out the door and the portal to the city closed up back into a mural behind them. Raph put the dolly back into the van and Bee closed the doors up behind him while Mikey hopped into the cab again, passing Raph his pizza as he opened up his own box excitedly.

“Well that was easy! And free pizza? You can ask me for help anytime. Where to next Bee?” Raph asked, digging into his first slice with relish. She buckled up and turned the van on with a rumble.

“Is Hueso your secret boyfriend?” Mikey asked suddenly, through a mouthful of jellybean pizza. Bee started howling with laughter as they pulled out of the alleyway.

“No Mikey, he’s not my secret anything, that’s just how he’s always talked to me. I’ve known him my whole life, he’s only a few years older than me you know. One of the first yokai I was ever friends with. Ask him though and he’ll tell you we are married.”

Mikey giggled at that as he inhaled another slice, catching any jelly beans falling off and popping them into his mouth.

“As for where we’re headed now, finish your pizzas and we’ll go drop the rest of this stuff off at a few homes, and when we finish we’ll take the van back to the shop and can start cooking some tasty chili that I’m sure even your brothers will appreciate.”

The rest of the deliveries went by quickly without much fuss with two extra pairs of hands and within the same hour they were already pulling back up to Bee’s place. ‘Thistle and Branch’, the mystic plant shop with the oversized mystical greenhouse hidden within a squat looking two story building. The boys had already had a thorough tour through the mystical greenhouse the first time they had met Bianca. She had needed help getting rid of a swarm of oozesquitos, and in the process the boys had broken a dangerous curse on Bee and her family.

She was eternally grateful to them now and owed her life to their clan, becoming an ally and friend to their family, often cooking meals to send home with them as well as passing along her knowledge of mystic plants and the various potions and recipes they could make with them. Anything they asked of her, she’d do her best to provide it for the boys who had saved her life.

They made their way inside and Bee led the way up the stairs in the back of the shop, unlocking a regular looking door, next to the strangely large one that led to the mystic greenhouse. It opened up into her home, and Raph and Mikey made themselves comfortable, with the familiarity of someone who had been there plenty of times before. Raph plopping down onto the couch to send a text to his brothers while Mikey made a beeline directly for the spacious kitchen; eager to get started learning the latest recipe, a chili that would instantly cure the consumer of any cold or flu.

“Bee really, you sure you don’t wanna just write em all down for me instead? I feel like it’d be way easier for you!” Mikey began pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards as she entered as well and started to pull out the various ingredients they’d need. She shook her head and tsk’d at him.

“Nope. These are clan secrets and they must be learned clan style. I thought you turtles of all people would appreciate following a tradition!” She placed a cutting board with a handle onto the island and on top of that a bag of definitely mystic beans. They glowed slightly with their own light. Mikey plopped himself down at the kitchen island and watched Bee, seemingly enchanted by the glowing beans 

“She’s right Mikey, you wanted to learn her family’s secret recipes, the least you could do is learn them the way her family would want.” Raph called from the living room, where he played a racing game on his phone now, settled in and completely relaxed as Bee turned on a speaker to play some light music.

“Why aren’t you also tryna learn it Raph?” Mikey called from the kitchen as he sharpened a knife for Bee when she handed it to him. Without missing a beat Raph called back,

“Because I’m supervising. Someone’s gotta make sure you don’t blow up Bee’s kitchen.” Raph and Bee both laughed loudly.

“Don’t worry, we aren’t working with anything that could blow up tonight. These pinto beans have mystic qualities because they are grown in tandemwith a mystic root vegetable that changes the soil. The beanplants soak up the mystic energy and the beans come out this light blue color and emit a light when they are ripe for harvesting and eating. Technically you could just eat them raw for the cure, but where’s the fun in that?”

  


She dug a handful of the beans up to slowly let them cascade down into the large pink bowl in front of her, for the boys to see the light blue coloring and glow each bean gave off.

“Since it’s a chili we don’t really need to soak them in water but if you have the time, leave them in standing water for 24 hours to soften them up, AND then that water also gets imbibed with healing properties. You could run it over a scrape and it’ll stop any shallow bleeding instantly.”

Bee poured out a good amount of the glowing legumes into the bowl and passed it over to Mikey, who dug his hands in excitedly to touch them.

“Alright first things first, you go wash these in the sink and then toss them into the big pot, then we can get started!”

“You got it Bee!” Mikey chirped as he hopped up from his seat, eager to get started at last. He bounced over to the sink and started to run the water over the beans as Bee pulled the cutting board and knife close to start dicing up some tomatoes when a tapping suddenly came from the kitchen window. Raph looked up from his game curiously.

“Bee you got a fire escape out that window? Someone’s there.” Bee put the knife back down and shook her head as she stared at the window.

“No, there’s no fire escape. What is that? A bird pecking?” The tapping started again.

“Maybe it’s a cat that’s learned how to knock?” Mikey offered as he stopped the water, the beans left forgotten in their waterlogged bowl at the bottom of the sink as he moved past Bee to go pull back the lacey curtains. “Do you have any cat food Bee? If not they’ll eat tuna.”

“Wait Mikey don’t open-“ Bee reached out to his shoulder to pull him back, but the moment he pulled the curtain aside the window exploded inward with a blast and a shower of glass in their faces.

Mikey and Bee’s screams were drowned out by Raphaels furious roar from the couch as he jumped up to help them. Mikey lay on the ground clutching his face and crying softly as Bee put her hands on his round cheeks, trying to get him to let her see, her own face marred and dripping blood from several small knicks and cuts.

“Mikey let me see!” Raph charged over to his poor brother and pulled his hands away from his sniffling face. A huge gash across his brow sliced neatly through his mask, miraculously missing his eye, and he was also peppered with smaller cuts and pieces of glass were poking out of deeper ones.

“Mikey you’re okay! It’s just some cuts you’re okay,” Raph tried to soothe his sobs by rubbing his shell gently, grateful Mikey’s eyes were safe from harm and thinking about what first aid they’d need when in through the shattered window flew two small gargoyles, followed by thick purple vines that gripped the frame of the window and proceeded to tear it open further. Raph scooped Mikey up without a second thought and leaped back. Bee grabbed the wooden cutting board off her counter and held it in front of her like a shield as she scrambled away as well.

“Those turtles are here?!” Hugin groaned as he landed delicately on the countertop,

“Honestly at this point I’d be surprised if they weren’t with how annoying they always are.” Moonin interjected, as Hugin nodded in agreement.

“That is soo true. Gosh it’s like, every time boss wants to do something now-“

“Enough!” With one more almighty yank, the window frame was torn completely out of the wall leaving a huge gaping hole through which appeared none other than Baron Draxum, the sheepish nightmare alchemist whose oozequitos were steadily turning the human residents of New York City into fearsome mutants. Moonin fluttered past Bee’s head, grabbing her hair as he went and pulling it harshly with a giggle. She shrieked but retaliated swiftly by swatting him out of the air with the cutting board. Hugin guffawed at his companions misfortune but swiftly met his own when Bee rounded on him as well and began smashing him over and over with the heavy board.

The Baron flicked a finger out and a small vine shot up from the floor ensnaring her wrist before she could bring the cutting board back down on Hugin’s little head again.  
She scowled up at the sheep man and let it drop from her hand where it landed on  
Hugin one final time to the cackling delight of Moonin.

“What have you and your pests done to my kitchen?! My whole wall is ruined!”

Baron Draxum ignored her for the moment and sneered when his eyes fell upon Raph and Mikey, who had one eye open and was peering at him fearfully from behind Raph, who had his tonfa out and was already taking a defensive stance.

“Sheep Creep! What’s the big idea? Come cruisin for a bruisin is that why you’re here?”

“ I suppose I should just send you turtles my agenda with how often you seem to show up during my business dealings.” He drawled in annoyance. “But whether you failures are here is of no importance to me, I’m looking for the potion master that owns this place.” His cruel eyes fell on Bee who seemed to be frozen at his words.

“I take it, if this is your wall and your kitchen, then you are the one I am looking for?” His sneer curled up into a frown of disgust. “The yokai in the hidden city spoke highly of you and I come to find you are nothing more than a filthy human.”

Bee balked at his insults, before stammering out, “I’m definitely not the person you are looking for! You are right, I’m just a regular filthy human. Nothing magical here I swear.”

She held up her hands and smiled weakly. The Baron’s eyes slid from her bleeding face to the glowing beans scattered across the island top and floor before coming back to bore into her eyes again.

“It would be wise if you did not lie to me again human. My patience for your kind is minuscule.” He stepped closer and a vine picked a bean up off the floor and handed it to him. He regarded it with a mild disinterest and then smashed it between his two fingers. Bee audibly gulped and stepped back, only to find she was held firmly by the purple vine around her wrist.

“ I have use of your skills human, However I won’t hesitate to mutate you into something much less useful if you fail me.” The baron moved closer again, reaching out for Bee when Raphael leapt over the countertop and dove right into action.

“Not another step Draxum!” Raph’s tonfa power jutsu burst to life and a massive red fist of light plowed directed into the baron’s face. Bee grabbed the kitchen knife from the nearby island and chopped through the purple vine, severing it with a single stroke before running to Mikey. She was knocked to the ground by the two gargoyles. Hugin and Moonin grabbed the back of her coveralls and started flapping hard in an attempt to fly away, but Mikey pulled out his kusari fundo and knocked them away before pulling Bee up from the floor, his scare from before forgotten in the face of a fight.

“Bee you gotta get out of here! Go!” He yelled as he jumped into the fray to back his brother up.

The turtles were managing to get some decent hits in on the baron, but it was definitely a losing fight; especially in close quarters. Bee had hardly made it a step away before more vines had shot up from the ground pulling her down. She yelled in fear as the baron managed to pin the two turtles down in one fell swoop as well, vines binding them tightly before Draxum so he could sneer again into their faces.

“This will be the last time you two inconvenience me I promise. I’ve a new surprise to test out and what better test subjects than my own creations?” He pulled out a small glass vial, harmless looking except for the big skull and cross bones on the label.

“It’s not efficient enough yet which is why I need the potion master to refine it, but it should get the job done in a day or so for the likes of you.”

He opened the vial which began steaming and without missing a beat, blew the steaming vapor directly into Raph and Mikey’s faces.

  
The boys held their breaths in defiance, straining to pull loose or pull their faces out of the reddish fog.

  
Mikey’s face was turning blue from the effort of holding his breath and he caved first, gasping in a mouthful of air. Within seconds of breathing it in he fell into a coughing fit, hacking and wheezing as the baron twisted the lid back on tightly. His face was screwed up in pain as he coughed, it sounded like his lungs were trying to rip themselves free from his body, it was so rough.

“Mikey!” Raph couldn’t help but spit out, though he didn’t inhale after his outburst, stubbornly holding out.

  
The baron was unimpressed.

“Ah yes that’s right, the orange one was a land turtle. They don’t do much swimming or holding their breaths. But the snapper can last nearly an hour without air. Interesting to see how their biology has affected their mutated forms as well.” He said, sounding completely disinterested before tossing the boys onto the floor next to Bee.

“What did you do to him?!” She yelled in horror as Mikey’s eyes slid closed when the coughing subsided into a painful sounding wheeze. His breaths were pained and fast, like an animal, and he began trembling lightly. Raph was red in the face from the effort he was putting in to rip through the vines encircling him and reach for his youngest brother.

“It is my first sample of your new life’s work. An experimental poison I’ve been making myself from hopping mung root and snapping lily. It’s still too slow for my tastes which is why I require your services. The turtle will be dead in 48 hours. But you will be much worse if you keep struggling. Now. Tell my gargoyles where you keep your potion supplies. This is your only chance to bring anything with you to your new life.”

“No!” Raph gasped at what Draxum said, finally taking a breath and redoubling his efforts to break loose. “Fix him you sheep turd! You can’t leave him like this!”

Angry tears began building up in the corners of Bee’s eyes. She kicked Moonin off of Mikey’s shell when the little gargoyle tried to land on him and pulled him closer with her free leg to defend the small turtle again if she had to. The two gargoyles guffawed and flew off into her home, knocking things over with relish as they searched for more things to ruin or steal as Baron Draxum opened a swirling pink portal in the space that used to be her kitchen window.

“Find her supplies and then bring the potions master, I must prepare the next sample for development. Leave the turtle here to watch his brother die.” He stepped through the portal and vanished, leaving it open for his gargoyles and their terrible task.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finding typos ugh I’ll fix em today!


	2. Chapter 2

Leonardo leaned back in the cozy booth and sighed happily as his shell sank into the soft leather cushioning. This was the best day. Ever. Hands down. There was a single slice of the most perfect pizza he’d ever had left in front of him, calling his name; a siren song of cheese and pepperoni and some special tiny glowing mushrooms and mystic peppers. He was pretty full, but it’d be a crime to leave that pizza unfinished and Leo was a Hero. He reached over to scoop it up reverently when a boney hand swatted the back of his head suddenly.

“Hey! What gives Hueso! We already paid the bill AND we’re still eating!’. He turned in the booth to glare, leaving the pizza slice unprotected. Donnie snatched it up in an instant and took a bite as Leo turned back in horror to watch his pizza disappear down his brothers gullet.

“Hey thanks for the last slice Leo.”

“Nooooo that was _my_ slice Dee, I had dibs!” He reached across the table in an attempt to snatch the remaining half of the slice from his brother but a red clipboard this time swatted the back of his hand. “Owch! What for?! This is an organized crime!”

“Leonardo, do you recognize this clip board?” Hueso waved it in front of his face, a stern look on his own. Leo shrugged, the strawberry pattern on the clipboard was cute, but he’d never seen it before,

“Nope those would be more of a Donnie thing my friend now what gives?”

Hueso rolled his eyes.

“This is the clipboard of my beloved friend Bianca the garden master. You knocked it off her crates and it slid under a table while she and I were busy trying to save my delivery from being ruined.” He huffed, “you will return it to her at once. And you will also apologize!”

Leo groaned and slid down his seat as Donnie snickered at him being given an errand to run. Hueso rounded on him now as well. He poked Donnie in the forehead forcibly making Donnie complain.

“Hey what’s with the sudden acts of violence?”

“And do not think _you_ will be staying behind either, you supervise and make sure your brother does this straight away. “ Donnie groaned now as well, even more dramatically than his brother had.

  
“How are we supposed to find them? They are driving around doing deliveries, you expect us to hunt them down like _animals?”_ He questioned, somewhat sarcastically as he pouted. Hueso rolled his eyes again and flipped quickly through the papers attached to the clipboard. There were several receipts as well as inventory lists. Hueso thumbed through them all before handing the clipboard to Donnie.

“All of these addresses are fairly close. They left from here about an hour ago? No doubt they’ve finished their task by now and are back at her shop. You can meet them there.”

As if on cue, Donnie and Leo’s phones both dinged with a new text message. Leo read his phone and hung his head in acceptance.

“Raph says they just got to Bee’s place. Alright we’re going, we’re _goiiinnggggg_.” He dragged himself out of the booth in an obnoxious and dramatic manner and Donnie mirrored the movement from the other side of the table with an annoyed groan of his own.

“Well go on then! “ Hueso made a shooing motion with his hands at the two, pushing them towards the door. “You two loitering teens are bad for business, get going! If you come back today I’ll put you to work cleaning the kitchen, and if I do not get a call from Bianca telling me you made the delivery quickly, you are banned for a month.” Both their mouths hung wide open and horrified.

“A _month_!?”

“We’re your best customers!”

“Better get going then.” He responded tartly, pushing them through the portal and out into the deserted alleyway. The magic door swirled shut behind them with a snap and the two teens stood there dumbfounded. Leo scoffed.

“You’d think we were criminals with how he just threw us out! _Littering teens?_ I’ve never littered in my life!”

“He said ‘loitering’.” Donnie corrected stretching his arms high above his head with a satisfying pop.

“What did I say?”

“Littering.”

_“Semantics!”_ He threw his hands in the air dramatically reaching behind him for his odachi, taking a firm grip and pulling it out in front of him. It shimmered lightly, as though it already knew he needed to go somewhere.

“Looks like we wound up delivery boys tonight after all my DonTon. Next stop, Bee’s. Maybe she has some ice cream or something in her fridge.” He began slicing through the air, attempting to draw a portal with his odaichi like a paintbrush. His first hazy portal sputtered out and died a quick death, so he tried again as Donnie snooped through the contents of Bee’s clipboard.

“I’m certain that if you asked she’d make you some right on the spot.” He drawled, flipping through the inventory lists with mild interest. “She definitely keeps strawberries in her greenhouse. Plus I think she’s still trying to win you over since she thinks you don’t like her.”

Leonardo’s next slice slashed a tiny portal in the fabric of reality, only small enough for a hand to maybe reach through as he choked suddenly and rounded on his brother Donatello in surprise. The tiny portal disappeared.

“Don’t like her? Why would she think that?” Donnie gave him a bored look and rolled his eyes.

“Who knows Leonardo, perhaps it’s the rejected invitations every time she’s asked us to come over for dinner? You’re the only one who says no. Even dad has gone, and he wanted to marry her for her cooking!” Donnie chided, bringing the memory of their father’s annoying week of scheming to the forefront of his mind. After having dinner at Bee’s, Splinter had informed the boys that he was going to try and ‘wifey her up’ because of her excellent cooking skills.

Appalled, the boys had left him behind for the next dinner party, choosing for the greater good, that they wouldn’t tell Bee why they weren’t bringing their dad anymore. He was just fine with leftovers thanks. Leo rolled his eyes, it was just too cringe to think about for long. And Donnie was speaking the truth, Leo had only been to Bee’s a few times since they met her, unlike his brothers who seemed to stop by every week, usually during mealtimes.

“I don’t reject the invitations, I just don’t like vegetables and that’s like, everything she makes!” He whined. “You, Mikey and Raph love that stuff whereas I, with my more refined palate, prefer to get my vitamins and minerals from the flinstones gummie vitamins.” He dodged an old can that Donnie threw at him.

“Well spoiler alert Leo, she thinks you secretly hate her. Even today you would rather go bum out at Hueso’s than be around her.”

“I don’t hate her, I just think she’s trying to fatten us up, probably to try and feed us to another killer talking tree or something. I’m sure her favorites Mikey and Raph are having a good time surrounded by killer beets and broccoli and brussel sprouts. Blech!” He stuck out his tongue in mock disgust, swinging his sword experimentally through the air one more time.

“Alrighty, Bee’s house. We wanna go to Bee’s house!” Leo did another impressive slurry of slashes in the air as he murmured their destination to himself, but all that they did was open a weak, wobbling portal the size of a basketball. Donnie stood unimpresssed with his arms crossed.

“Yeesh Lee, you _still_ haven’t even figured out how to do a full one every time? Maybe we should just get the tank.” He began tapping away at his wrist, about to summon the tank to their location. “I bet it gets here before you can get a portal that works.”

Donnie was not as agile as Leo and the old can hit him square in the face when Leo chucked it at him with a scowl.

“Oww, way to lash out Leo!” Donnie clutched his nose and mouth with his hands in irritation. Leo blew him a kiss and squared his shoulders, holding his blade steadily in front of him. He breathed out slowly and let off a flurry of slashes again. This time a well sized portal appeared at last, shimmering blue and swirling. “Who’s your champion Dee?” He mocked over his shoulder as he stepped through proudly.

And promptly fell onto his face, plastron scraping the dirty pavement with a heavy sounding thud. Donnie stepped through the portal neatly and peered around, seemingly unconcerned by his elder twin sprawled across the floor.

“You portaled us to the wrong street. Thistle and Branch is like six blocks down. Way to go Lee, real champ status.” He stepped delicately over a pouting Leo and began walking in the correct direction. Leo clambered up and followed his brother, his lower lip sticking out as he continued to pout over his failure. He perked up though as a new thought struck him, and grinned, hopping in front of Donnie and beginning to run backwards,

“I got us close enough though. Hey. Race you there Dee. Winner gets to pick the next two pizzas we order with zero complaints! Go!” Donnie fumbled for a second, unprepared for the sudden challenge, but began running to catch up to Leo, who already had an unfair lead. The purple and blue turtles raced down the empty streets, jumping around from trashcans to lampposts and over parked cars in their haste to win.

Determined to not be outshined, Donnie activated his battle shell and jumped up into the air, his hover shell lifting him and shooting him past Leo with speed.

“Hey that’s not fair!” Leo tried to admonish, all the while redoubling his own efforts to win.

“You didn’t specify that I couldn’t use my tech Lee, besides you had a head start!” Donnie replied smartly, his tongue out at Leo as he hit the final stretch and rounded the corner. Bee’s shop and home would be nestled between two taller buildings on this block, and Donnie knew from experience he was liable to pass it the first time if he wasn’t paying attention.

“Looks like tonight’s champion is none other than, Othello Von Ry-“ he cut off his gloating with a sharp intake of breath as it came into view. Leo ran past him, looking back and pointing a finger up in Donnie’ face.

“Ohoho! Looks like the real champion is actually the All Time Champion, yours truly Donnie!” But Donnie’s eyes weren’t on Leo, they were locked on the shop behind him. Leo finally turned to look and see what had his brother suddenly so upset and his heart dropped into his stomach. Sticking out of the ground were several large purple vines, shot into the front of the store and second floor, where they had ripped an entire section of wall away. Light streamed out of the gap in the architecture, and in the makeshift entrance floated another portal, this one a bright pink, and rectangular like a doorway.

“Draxum!” Donnie spit the name out like a curseword, pulling his tech bo out and extending it.

“Do you think they are in there?” Leo pulled his odachi out again, formulating an attack plan, all the while worrying for his other two brothers. “Maybe they’re not even there and we’re about to run in and get our tails handed to us.”

Donnie hesitated, but before they could make a move, a shriek was heard from the opening, followed by an angry bellow that could only be their eldest brother Raphael. Donnie flicked his goggles down to scan the building quickly.

“They’re all in there, on the ground it looks like. I don’t see Draxum anywhere but I can see his little shoulder pads flying around.”

Leo slashed his odachi through the air, bringing a blue swirling portal to life with a single slice this time, a determined look on his face.

“Let’s go stealth mode then.”

“Check it out, I made a sandwich.” Huugin bragged, waving his prize in the air as he flew over to join his accomplice Moonin. The latter had been busy dragging an old wooden chest out from another room. He dropped his heavy load with a thunk by the portal and waved his tiny hands around.

“Man that thing is heaaaavy! And you made yourself a sandwich and didn’t think to make me one? AND I’m doing all the work? That’s cruel and unfair of you. My feelings are hurt.” Moonin cackled as he flew over to try and swipe the sandwich out of Huugin’s equally tiny hands. They squabbled like pigeons over a potato chip.

“Raph c’mon you gotta break free!”

Raph was panting from exertion, straining constantly against the purple vines that had him wrapped from head to toe, and Bee was sitting up next to him trying to bite through the vines on him as well. Mikey lay there quietly on the floor next to them, his injured face marred with trickles of blood that had begun to leave a puddle on the carpet. His breathing continued harshly, as though each breath was a fight and his eyes remained closed.

“I’m tryin’ Bee!” Raph answered roughly as he flexed again, trying to weaken the vines enough to rip through them like the Hulk.

The gargoyles continued to bicker when Mikey suddenly gasped, his eyes flying open and his small body beginning to convulse. Bee shrieked and Raph roared in fear.

“He’s seizing! Please! Give him the cure, and I’ll go with you! I’ll make you whatever you need, just please stop this! Save him!” Bee begged the two little creatures. Huugin took a bite of his sandwich and winced as Michaelangelo suffered another bout of convulsions before settling down again. Moonin shrugged his little shoulders up and down.

“We don’t have the cure yet, that’s kinda a big reason why the baron wants you to come work for him. He hasn’t figured out how to make it yet.”

Huugin swallowed his bite down “yeah besides, he was exaggerating its speed I feel, it’s gonna be like, closer to like four days, not 48 hours. He’s just dramatic. It’s super slow. Another reason he needs you to work on it.”

Moonin elbowed Huugin harshly in the ribs, “you can’t just tell em the boss was exaggerating, that’s like, disrespectful or rude or something. Not cool dude.” Huugin shoved him back and took another bite of his sandwich before pointing at Bee with it.

“It doesn’t matter, she’s gonna come work for him anyways so she’ll find out he’s dramatic soon enough, and those guys are turtle soup.”

“When I get my hands on you yer gonna go from being shoulderpads to shoes!” Raph swore, wriggling again on the floor as he tried to escape. A vine by his legs finally gave way, snapping loose as he kicked hard. The gargoyles fluttered out of range of his kicks. Moonin snatched the sandwich out of Huugin’s hands and took a big bite.

“Looks like he’s getting loose, we’d better split. I pulled out all the equipment Huugin so you get to drag the potion master out. It’s only fair.”

“Oh fine, I’ll do it. But if she kicks me again I’m gonna kick you.”

Huugin flew over to Bee, who promptly began kicking out at him again with her one free leg as Raph did his best to roll over and also kick at him. The little gargoyle managed to grab hold of her ankle though and started dragging her towards the pink portal that was still shimmering menacingly in what use to be her window. She rolled like an alligator and slipped out of his grip much to his annoyance, now both her legs were free and she made a scrambling attempt to get up, only to be tackled back down again by the tiny terror.

“Ow see, Moonin come help me she can move that’s waaay harder than a box of old junk!” The pointy gargoyle complained and Moonin rolled his eyes.

Moonin came to Huugin’s aid, the stolen sandwich in one hand and he used his free hand to grab the back of Bee’s coveralls with Huugin as well and they both began flapping their wings hard, dragging her back again. Bee shrieked again as they made progress and shot her legs out, hooking them around her kitchen island in an attempt to slow them down.

“Bee don’t let go, I’m coming!” Raph yelled, kicking at the vines that still held the majority of his body down. He was close to freeing his other leg as well and the goyles panicked.

“Why is this so hard ugh!” The sandwich fell out of Moonin’s hand so he could use both and the two creatures began flapping hard, blowing up a cloud of dust from their exertion. Bee’s legs slipped free from the ledge and they had finally made it to the pink portal, it was only a few feet away now, hanging suspended in the air outside.

“Phew! You owe me a new sandwich Moonin!” Huugin complained as he wiped his brow. “Let’s just go already.”

“No!” Raph panicked, finally rolling over onto his side to watch as their friend was dragged through the rubble of her kitchen’s remains.

“No!” Bee yelled, her eyes locked onto Raph’s in fear.

“Ohohooo Yeaaahhh!”

“Excelsioooor!”

Flying through the opening between the pink portal and the remains of Bee’s crumbling wall came Leonardo followed promptly by Donatello. Leo dove in grabbing Bee from the goyle’s clutches and rolling back into her home to land by Raph’s feet while Donnie whacked both gargoyles with a stunning hit of his tech bow, sending them flying into the opposite wall with a pair of resounding cracks.

“Guys!” Raph’s relief stink suddenly flooded the air, a combo of cotton candy and overripe fruit, Leo waved his hand in front of his face dramatically to fan it away, Bee flung over his other shoulder casually like a sack of rice. The goyles made a break for the portal, flying past Donnie and disappearing through the hazy pink portal.

“Well that was insanely easy. What gives Raph? Caught by Baron’s accessories?”

Before anyone could reply the pink portal fizzled and grew wider, more purple vines suddenly came shooting through barely missing Donnie who dodged, jumping forward out of the way and landing next to Leo. Through the portal stepped Baron Draxum again, an angry scowl marring his face, flanked by his two goyles.

“I was just about to come and see what was taking my goyles so long and of course you are all here.”

“We’ve been fighting with them this whoooole time boss.” Huugin lied,

“Yeah pretty much since the moment you left before.” Moonin added.

“Leo! Get us out of here, now!” Raph barked from his position on the floor. Leo tossed Bee to Donnie and ran around the group, slicing a portal into the floor below.

“You won’t get away!” Draxum bellowed.

The blue light flashed brightly as they all fell through just as Draxum let loose a flurry of vines. The gang fell in a pile safely in the middle of their lair and Leo deactivated the portal, slicing off a few vines that had entered with them as well. Donnie put Bee down delicately and turned Mikey over while Leo cut them all free, curious why he hadn’t said a single word.

“Hey Raph, what’s wrong with Mikey?”


End file.
